10 Must-Have Free Apps For Philippine Travel

Today where no one goes anywhere without their smartphones, great applications have become essential to learning new information, locating friends and of course, finding your way around new places. For those who likes to travel, there are a slew of travel apps that cover all the bases, while making travel a breeze and your vacation a memory you will remember forever. Here are 10 must-have free apps when traveling to the Philippines.

PLANNING

1. TRIP ADVISOR is one of the best online sources for travelers, particularly because it has in-depth reviews of hotels, restaurants, and sites to see. Photos uploaded by other users are also helpful for getting a glimpse of a place from an unbiased point of view. It is one of the richest resources you’ll find because it has a large and active community. Also, using the free Trip Advisor Offline City Guide app, you can browse reviews that have been stored in the app, with no data roaming charges.Available on: Android, iOS

2. LOOLOO is another app that I use, has plenty of cool aspects and features. The whole idea is that you gain information from the community of users, and you give back by adding your own reviews and ratings. All reviews can be shared on Twitter and Facebook. When you first launch the app you have the choice of signing in through Facebook or “taking a peek” as a guest. The benefit to using your Facebook account is that there are “member-only” features. This is my go-to app whenever I want to try out new restaurants, watch a movie or grab a couple of drinks.Available on: Android

3. Grab cheap flights and air tickets on Skyscanner. It is a major travel search engine offering not just extensive and free flight search service, it also do online comparisons for hotels, car rentals, and trains where ever you want to go.Available on: Android, iOS

GETTING AROUND

4. WAZE is a community-driven app for traffic and other information about the road, including police speed traps, potholes, and accidents. While Google Maps tells you about major reported road problems, Waze knows the nitty-gritty. You can even see the speeds at which cars are traveling in congestion. In cities, it’s popular among taxi and car service drivers, but it’s equally useful on highways. Beware, though: Waze needs to use your location information all the time, even in the background, which will take a toll on your battery.Available on: Android, iOS

5. GRAB has saved me many times from standing in the sun or rain, or wasting twenty minutes flagging down a ride during rush hour. Since parking is a hassle and expense I would rather not have on most days, Grab has been an extremely useful tool in my everyday life. What’s even better is that it has started to offer Grab Premium. I’ve been picked up by a leather-seated Innova, a polished Camry, and a strapping Fortuner. Awesome part: It runs on a fixed fee so your bill doesn’t shoot up like a rocket. Of course, you occasionally can’t get a cab, even from here, but it’s a really reliable service, with some of the nicest drivers you’re ever going to meet.Available on: Android, iOS

ACCOMMODATION

6. AIRBNB is an essential app for the tech-savvy backpacker, listing affordable accommodation around the globe – ranging from a “private apartment” to a “private island.” In addition to searching for places to stay, you can also offer your own room for rent, if you’d like to make a little extra money. So far there are 150,000 places listed in 190 countries. Also, it has an in-app messaging to help guests and hosts make communication frictionless, keeping all activity on your mobile.Available on: Android, iOS

TRANSLATION

7. GOOGLE TRANSLATE. Avoid language barriers and make sure you’re able to communicate easily no matter where you are with the best translation app out there, Google Translate. The app features more than 60 languages, and for 17 of those languages, you can translate by speaking the text rather than typing it. Again, there are other translation apps available for download but none of them offers Filipino. Available on: Android, iOS

WIFI/COMMUNICATION

8. FREE WIFI CONNECT. Stay connected without racking up roaming charges with the Free WiFi Connect app, which locates Internet hotspots in your vicinity. The app works around the world, and also provides direction to the hot spot of your choice. You can filter according to whether a hot spot is free or secured (those that needed password), although in some places, the results are less than ideal. There’s a misconception about these WiFi scanning apps. It WONT give you free WiFi signal but help you locate where to connect. I’ve tried apps such as WiFi Map, WiFi Finder and Instabridge but this one works better. It doesn’t have those intrusive ads and it’s user-friendly. Available on: Android

WEATHER

9. There are more than a few weather applications available to mobile users. And while I haven’t tried them all, I think you can’t go wrong with ACCUWEATHER. The ability to add multiple locations along your trip (place of departure and destination) certainly helps, as does the feature that lets you browse tomorrow’s forecast by the hour. If you’re making plans that could be tripped up by weather, this is a wonderful app to have.Available on: Android, iOS

BUDGET MANAGEMENT

10. WALLER-BUDGET TRACKER lets you create a daily budget and it will let you know how much you have left to spend each day, it’s really simple, which is why it’s great. The best thing about this app is that it’s completely customizable, you can create your own categories such as ‘fare’, ‘accommodation’, ‘drinks’ 😉 and assign each a color. Then you can view your daily spending in a pie chart or list view to see where the majority of your money is going. Best of all you can use it offline so you don’t need an internet connection, the app will use the most recent currency rates to convert your spending.Available on: Android

I know there are tons of mobiles apps out there but as a local here in the Philippines, these are what I found to be useful. And they’re all FREE!

What do you think of my recommended free travel apps? Do you find them helpful? What other travel apps are you using? Any more suggestions? Let me know by commenting below.

Great app ideas! I use TripAdvisor for the campground that I work for and I am also going to hopefully be traveling more so I’ll keep some of the others in mind. I’m super interested in learning more about Airbnb so I’ll check that app out!

I’m not a fan of apps, really. Nothing wrong with them, it’s me A victim of Technophobia. I swear, my phone would just be a phone and nothing more if not required for my business. Probably still tethered to the wall with a spiraled cord and a rotary dial 📞 in lieu of tones if I had my way. My wife, however, would thoroughly appreciate the value in these and I will definitely forward her way.

Mabuhay! Welcome to Golden Island Señorita, a travel and lifestyle blog! I am POLLY AMORA, a wanderlust kid at heart and an advocate of Leave No Trace from Manila, Philippines who enjoys sharing whatever I’ve learned in life.

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